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Striped Coralroot / Corallorhiza striata

This is one of our small, wild Orchids, Striped Coralroot. It is a native plant and grows in open woods. Grows 15-40 cm tall, June-July. Always a good feeling when we come across a few clumps of this attractive plant.

"Corallorhiza striata is a species of orchid known by the common names striped coralroot and hooded coralroot. This flowering plant is native to much of North America, especially Canada and the northern and western United States. It is a member of the coniferous understory flora, where it lives in the layer of decaying plant matter on the ground obtaining nutrients from fungi via mycoheterotrophy. Like other coralroots, it has reduced leaves and no chlorophyll and relies upon its parasitism of the fungi for sustenance. This coralroot has an erect stem which may be red, pink, purple, or yellow-green to almost white. It is mostly made up of an inflorescence of orchid flowers. Each flower is an open array of sepals and similar-looking petals which may be pink or yellowish and have darker pink or maroon stripes. Inside the flower is a column formed from the fusion of male and female parts, which may be spotted with purple or red. The fruit is a capsule one or two centimeters long."

Yesterday morning, 15 June 2017, I decided to join friends for a botany walk in North Weaselhead. We saw a good variety of species, including a few quite special ones, such as Striped Coralroot and Indian Breadroot. Thanks for a great walk, Barry! We also saw a tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

After going for coffee with a couple of the botany people (thanks so much, Peter!), I went home for lunch and then decided to drive SW of the city, in the hope of maybe seeing a Great Gray Owl and/or a Bobolink. No luck with an owl, but, with a lot of patience, I did finally see a Bobolink. I only had very distant views, so managed to get only photos to post for my records. I did better a year ago, but it is early still.

It was so nice to bump into Bonnie and her neighbour, Russel(l), on my drive. They mentioned a road that I had never been on before and I decided to give it a try. Such a beautiful road, though I had no idea where I was the whole time. When I got home and checked on Google, I was surprised to see just where I had driven.